We left St. Louis on Wed. and was surprised that all maps and AAA had us going through Missouri down a secondary road instead of an interstate, but it saved us 60 miles and other than the lack of rest stops was a great way to go (US 67 to Poplar Bluff). We spent the night in Texarkana and drove into Galveston where we were staying at the Marriott Courtyard on Seawall Blvd. At first I wasn't very impressed---it was isolated and not close to other restaurants or shops like the Hilton. But, we really liked the friendly staff, smaller size and the Bistro there. It was still across from the Gulf and had a parking garage where we could leave our car for the cruise. The van used to take us and the Warrens was small and we filled it, but the driver was helpful and friendly.
The embarkation went very smoothly. We arrived at 11 with no line to check in. Our boarding number was 7 but it went very quickly. Before we knew it, we were having lunch on the deck. The Warrens explored the kids' clubs and I made a spa appointment for my nails later in the afternoon. The ship is such a great size, that we often saw people we had met at the hotel including a family who was from Lee's Summit. We were in our room by 1:45 PM. The room (handicapped) was quite spacious for Anna, Eli, Dave and I. The balcony was quite small and with the white wall, we couldn't really sit out there and enjoy the view, though.
That evening we ate at Tiana's Place, a New Orleans themed restaurant. The first night, we had appearances from Tiana and listened to a Jazz combo. It was a definite improvement over Parrot Cay in terms of menu, entertainment and ambience.
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